Personal safety is a problem of increasing concern in our society. Individuals face danger and emergency situations in their homes, at their places of work and while traveling in automobiles, trains, airplanes and other forms of transportation. Dangerous situations exist in our cities and on our roadways. Citizens are frequently victims of crime and placed in dangerous situations caused by riots and other civil unrest. Violent weather conditions, earthquakes, pollution hazards, fires, tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, and other natural disasters cause dangerous situations. In addition to these dangerous situations, individuals may require emergency assistance for medical reasons, personal injuries, abandonment, or other personal crises. All these situations give rise to the need for improved personal warning and emergency safety systems not only to alert citizens as they move about in their daily activities but also to provide the capability for individuals to call for emergency assistance when they are in potentially dangerous situations, so that they may avoid or avert dangerous situations.
In our co-pending application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/844,029 filed on Apr. 17, 1997, incorporated herein by reference, applicants describe a danger warning emergency response system and method for warning citizens of dangerous situations that may exist within certain geographic areas as determined by, among other things, the G.P.S. coordinates of those areas. In that system, individuals carry emergency warning units complete with G.P.S. receivers to receive location signals from G.P.S. satellites and telecommunication receivers to receive signals transmitted by a paging or other communication networks from central emergency warning centers. The individual warning units carried by persons throughout the area receive the transmitted danger warning signals. Based on an individual's present G.P.S. coordinates, the warning unit computes whether or not the individual is currently within a dangerous area. The portable emergency warning unit generates appropriate warning signals and messages to alert the person or persons associated with that unit of the dangerous situations and the degree of danger. Fuzzy logic, expert systems and other methods are described in our co-pending application to characterize dangerous situations and formulate appropriate messages for transmission.
Several prior art patents address different aspects of tracking individuals using G.P.S. and warning individuals of danger. For example, it is known to use G.P.S. technology to track individuals. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,742,233; 5,712,619; 5,731,757. These prior art patents are incorporated herein by reference. It is also known to use G.P.S. technology and personal warning devices to request help when an individual is in distress. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,742,233; 5,712,619. These prior art patents are incorporated herein by reference.
It is also known to use G.P.S. technology and personal warning devices to warn individuals that specific criminal offenders are in the area. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,757. This prior art patent is incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,757 does not, however, create a comprehensive safety warning system by warning users of varying dangers, such as fires, tornadoes, or police chases. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,757 is not capable of learning a user's normal behavior.
It is further known to selectively distribute information via radio communications based on location, velocity, and/or time. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,245. This prior art patent is incorporated herein by reference. However, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,245 does not use fuzzy logic or expert systems to classify dangerous situations with varying degrees of danger, such as, for example, classifying the degree of danger based on distance from danger and nature of dangerous situations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,245 also does not selectively distribute radio communications based upon individual user characteristics, such as a need for a person having a heart condition or problem to be close to a heart trauma center. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,245 does not warn individuals of varying dangerous situations (i.e., shootings, fires, riots, chemical hazards, etc.).
It is known to determine location and to request police assistance via a paging or radio network. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,705,980; 5,652,570. These prior art patents are incorporated herein by reference. However, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,705,980 and 5,652,570 do not use G.P.S. technology to locate individuals.
It is further known to monitor an individual's medical information (i.e., blood pressure, blood chemistry, etc.) and report that information via radio communication to a central control center. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,576,952; 5,415,167; 5,652,570. These prior art patents are incorporated herein by reference. However, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,576,952; 5,415,167; 5,652,570 do not use G.P.S. technology to locate individuals in medical distress.
Each of the patents and articles discussed above is incorporated herein by reference.
A significant drawback to all of the inventions discussed above is that they do not create a comprehensive warning system by collecting information from users and distributing that information to other selected users. The above inventions distribute information that is obtained from already existing sources (i.e., weather reports, police radio, etc.). The present invention not only distributes information that it receives from already existing information sources, but it also distributes information that it receives from individual users to other specific users. In addition to creating a system of selectively distributing information, the present invention also creates a new source of information to distribute.
Importantly, none of the above inventions make use of fuzzy logic or expert systems to develop calculated degree of danger indications to further assist persons using the system to better understand the peril and nature of danger that may exist. The use of the fuzzy logic/expert system and methods of applicant's incorporated co-pending application, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/844,029 cited above, with the two-way communication and other unique features of the present application, provides a more comprehensive warning system and method.
Another significant drawback of the above prior art inventions is that they are not capable of learning the behavior of the individual users.
Therefore, the need exists for a personal emergency, safety warning system and method that creates a more comprehensive, intelligent warning and response system for individual users.